Fort Worth ISD’s ‘B’ grade isn’t as good as it looks. We must talk honestly about that

Sixty-two percent of Fort Worth ISD third-graders cannot read on grade level. But in a recent panel discussion focused on improving student performance, the district’s outgoing superintendent expressed defensively: “How do you turn around a school district that seems to be in a positive trajectory?”

Refusal to humbly acknowledge the challenges facing our schools is stifling productive dialogue, eroding community trust and limiting improvement as we work to support our students.

According to last week’s release from the National Assessment of Education Progress — often referred to as the “nation’s report card” — two decades of student improvement in reading and math were fully reversed after just two years of pandemic-disrupted learning. Now more than ever, we need the adults in the room to put ego aside and model what it looks like to altruistically work toward solutions.

Here are three questions that deserve consideration as FWISD welcomes new leadership.

FWISD is graded “B” by the Texas Education Agency, but only 32% of students in grades 3-8 are meeting grade level requirements in all subject areas. How does the district define success?

While incremental progress has been made, to hang laurels on newly assigned campus ratings alone would be misleading.

TEA’s rating system is complex, with three factors contributing to the overall district score. Two of them, “Student Achievement” and “Closing the Gaps,” are objective. “Student Progress,” however, is made up of two parts — one objective and one relative — with the stronger of the two dictating the final category score. The overall district rating is calculated giving 70% weight to whichever of Student Achievement or Student Progress is better. So it appears that relative performance helped the district earn a B grade.

We cannot accept relative performance as a proxy for objective success. Both IDEA Public Schools, a public charter, and Everman ISD, a traditional district, have greater percentages of economically disadvantaged students than FWISD but continue to outperform the district. FWISD’s new superintendent will face the challenge of recognizing the efforts of students and teachers while acknowledging that the hard work has only just begun.

FWISD enrollment has steadily declined over the last five years. Are public charter schools a threat?

For decades, education has been framed as a zero-sum game. In reality, the success of one student or school model does not necessitate the failure of another. Recent data continues to prove that increasing enrollment in metro-area charter schools fuels overall academic improvement, especially for minority students. While misinformation about charters remains, 13 of 14 charter districts serving Fort Worth students are academically outperforming FWISD. I know what you’re thinking — they must have attracted the high-performing students. If that were the case, there should have been a noticeable decline in FWISD achievement from 2019 to 2022. Instead, district reading and math scores slightly improved.

Celebrating achievement in charter and non-traditional schools while advocating for our traditional ISDs must not be mutually exclusive.

FWISD’s strongest schools, according to 2022 data, are its Leadership Academies. These schools operate under partnerships authorized by state law, and five of six are managed by Texas Wesleyan University. They serve as a clear example of the progress that can be made when we put students first and remain open to innovative ideas.

How do we prioritize the individual needs of students moving forward?

As we begin this school year, academic achievement is lagging, political tension remains high and educators face thankless, unrelenting pressure to solve complex societal problems. To improve, we must have truthful, student-centric conversations that yield both pragmatic and innovative solutions. No single school or system is unilaterally failing or supporting every student. Nuance and vulnerability will be required as we chart the path forward.

A common refrain of North Texas education leaders is the shared sentiment that we must be on the same team. It is my hope that we’re referring to Team Student, not Team System.

This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 6:04 AM.